spit up or reflux?

[matthewtyler]

Our son David, 1 yr old, is now sitting up on his own, but spits up sometimes 3-5 times in that position. David doesn't seem to mind spitting up, but it's driving us crazy.

Does anyone know if children with DS are more prone to spitting up? Will it end once he can stand up? Or could it be acid reflux?

Appreciate your thoughts as always!

[wrblack]

Have heard people say that once kid got vertical saw lots of improvement. Of course, kids tend to have grown some by the time they're able to stand up, and just getting bigger, stronger may be what helps.
You might want to read Dr. Leshin on reflux,
www.ds-health.com/reflux.htm
if you haven't already.
Actually, I have no idea how to distinguish between reflux and spit up. But I do remember, when Charlie was just a few months old, an excellent pediatric gastroenterologist at CHOP saying reflux is reflux but a little spit-up is just a little spit-up. That was just before this specialist cut Charlie's dose of Reglan in half. Maybe it takes years of specialized medical training and experience in stellar specialty hospital to be able to tell the difference between spit up and reflux.
Good luck,
Bob

[mommygwen]

Yes, children with Ds are more prone to bringing food up. Gravity should help but since you remark that David is sitting it is not helping him enough. Standing won't increase the effect of gravity any. But, it would indicate and increase in muscle tone that might help him keep food down. Both my boys were/ are spitters. One suffered more (ear infections, aspiration and bronchitis), so he took propulsid (now removed from the market) and still takes pepcid.
Do talk to your Dr.. Ear and airway infections can be cause by damage from the acid in spit-up. Also it can interrupt sleep. I often noticed a "sour smell" when my son cried at night.

[Claire]

Adam had a lot of probelms with reflux too. It did get better with age, but even now if he bends tight down frontward after a meal he will reflux. He was also on prepulsid for 3 years and he takes nothing now. He was born with a thacheal stenosis so it didn't help things.

[momofrussell]

yes... they are more prone to spitting up. Maybe talk to the ped about maybe seeing a Pediatric GI doc

A.

[NZ Carolyn]

All 4 of my children had reflux. Emma and Nicki constantly spilled and we had a barium meal xray to confirm no abnormalities. I think it's really important to rule out any medical reason for it.

Having Ds means lower muscle tone everywhere and the sphincter (sp) muscle doesn't work as efficiently. In our case both Emma and Nicki spilled until well after they were walking (2 and 2.5yrs respectively). Emma particularly could just bend over to pick something up and boom! Lovely in social situations!

A distant memory now but really trying at the time.

Cheers
Carolyn